Portlaoise father and son Connie and Paddy Conroy ran the Copenhagen Half Marathon on Sunday – and certainly got an experience they will never forget.
The pair chose Copenhagen as it is 6 weeks before the Dublin City Marathon and is known as a flat fast course.
The race started in glorious sunshine and it was forecast to continue remain good throughout the race.
However, the weather changed dramatically as severe lightning, torrential rain, hail and even snow fell on the Danish capital.
Connie, who coached the Laois minor hurlers for three years alongside Pat Critchley, recalled: “It was a biblical scene for the final couple of miles as the remarkably loud thunder, heavy hail & rain and fork lightning came down from the skies.”
The flooding at the finish line was so bad that the timing mats floated away.
The race was cancelled 40 minutes after the two Portlaoise lads crossed the line both finishing in the top 6 per cent of the field.
Three people were hit by lightning during the race and brought to hospital.
Despite the weather, the winning race time of 58.40 min was the third fastest of all time and the fastest anywhere in the world this year.
Despite the chaos Connie and Paddy, who is a primary school teacher in Rush Co Dublin, managed to compose themselves and find an Irish bar to watch the All Ireland Football Final.
Well done lads!
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